Fluid type car coupling



Nov. 9, 1943. M. F. POWELL FLUID TYPE CAR COUPLING Filed April 21, 1'94;

4 Sheets-Sheet l EMAMHUA HA I':

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I urn/Im- Nov. 9, 1943. M. F. POWELL 2,333,674

FLUID TYPE CAR COUPLING I Filed April 21, 1941 4.Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Nov. 9-, 1943. M. F. POWELL FLUIDv TYPE CAR COUPLING Filed April' 21, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 n Mh h Inventor Nov. 9,1943. M. F. POWELL FLUID TYPE CAR COUPLING Filed April 21, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 NV MN Ph I I l /1 r m 0 m A Haring- Patented Nov 9,1943

UNITED STATES 4 PATENT OFFICE 1 6 Claims.

stood that the invention can be used wherever power is to be transmitted from a power plant 7 to a member to be driven.

The general object of the invention is to provide means whereby the driven member can be driven in a forward direction in variable speeds and canalso be placed in neutral.

- Another object of the invention is to so construct and arrange the parts that a single unit can be used or a number of units so that the apparatus may be made up to suit any special requirement. v

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference part of Figure 1 showing the interior construction and arrangement of the parts.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view looking toward the face of the blade arrangement of the fluid coupling, with the parts associated therewith, portions of the apparatus being shown in ,section .and parts broken away.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showwill be had to the accompanying drawings whereing some of the movable blades with the gearing and portions of the spiral stationary blade.

Figure 6 is a detail view showing one of the movable blades and its gearing.

Figure 'l .is a sectional view showing a portion of. the stationary spiral blade arrangement.-

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the oil pump actuated pistons in a cylinder. 4

Figure 9 is a sectional view through the cylinder and piston for operating the clutch.

Figure 10 is a longitudinal sectional view through the other cylinder and piston of the oil pump operating assembly. 1

Figure 11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a multiple arrangement of the fluid drive means.

Figure 12 is a detail view showing how a ring gear meshes with a pair of segmental gears for operating a pair ofmovable blades.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary detail view showinghow a ring gear is operated by a gear on a longitudinally extending shaft as shown in Figurell.

In these drawings the letter M indicates a motor and the letter H indicates a housing connected with the rear end of the motor and into which extends the shaft S of the motor. A casing C is located in the housing H and the motor shaft extends into the casing and anti-friction means l are located between a part of the easing and the rear end of the shaft and a pinion 2 is connected to said rear end of the shaft beyond the anti-friction means I. Anti-friction means 3 are also arranged between the front. of the casing C and a sleeve 4 which is slidably arranged on the shaft S, and is manually shiftable forwardly andrearwardly by suitable means which includes a lever 5 connected with a collar 6 fitting in a groove in the front end of the sleeve.

The casing C has a fluid chamber I in its front .part which is surrounded by a substantially circular chamber .8 which is also of substantially circular shape in cross section but the inner circumference of which is flat and opens out into the chamber 1. Preferably the casing C is formed of two sections, the dividing line passing through the chamber 8 and the chamber 1 and the two sections are fastened together by the bolts 9. An annular core [0 passes through the chamber 8 and this core is also divided into two parts by the dividing line between the two sections and a spiral blade ll encircles the,.core and has its inner circumference connected therewith and its outer circumference to the walls of the chamber 8. A notch or opening I2 is formed in each portion of the spiral blade between the core 10 and the point where the chamber 8 opens into the chamber 1 and each notch has its side walls converging to the core with the wall at the core flat as shown more clearly in Figure 2. Thus the spiral blade II is divided into a. plurality of separate parts by these notches.

A wheel-W is rotatably arranged in the chamber I and includes the hub l3 surrounding and fastened to the shaft S and spokes ll radiate from the hub.

This wheel carries a plurality of vanes I5 each of which has outwardly converging side edges and a straight outer edge so that a vane-will lit gears mesh with a ring l8, the gears and ring having beveled teeth. Said ring is movably supported on the wheel and has teeth on its inner circumference as shown at l8 with which gears l9 mesh. These gears I9 are also carried by the wheel for rotary movement and each gear is suitably connected to one end of a lever 20 which has a weight 2| at its other end and a spring 22 connects the lever with a part of the wheel. A control rod 23 is provided for each lever and the outer end of each rod has a slot 24 therein for receiving the pin 25 of the lever, said pin being arranged intermediate the ends of the lever. A bellcrank 26 has one arm connected-to the inner end of each control rod 23 and the bellcrank is pivoted to a projection 21 on the wheel and the other end of the bellcrank fits in a groove 28 in the inner end of the sleeve 4 so that as the sleeve 4 is moved inwardly and outwardly the bellcranks rock to move the control rods 23 inwardly and outwardly.

Thus the levers 20 can be actuated by manual means to cause partial rotary movement of the gears l9 and, of course, such gears l9 are also controlled by centrifugal force through the weights 2| and the springs 22, the slots 24 in the rods 23 permitting centrifugal action.

The rear part of the casing C contains a gear chamber 38 closed at its rear by a plate 3| fastened to the rear part of the casing and a sleeve 32 is rotatably arranged on the driven shaft 33, the sleeve having a socket therein to receive the front end of the driven shaft and said sleeve at its front end has a gear 34 connected therewith which meshes with the gears 35 on the stub shafts 36 journaled in the rear plate 3| of the casing C and an intermediatelplate of the casing. Large gears 31 are carried by the shafts 35 and mesh with the pinion or gear 2. Thus if the casing C is held stationary the shaft S will drive the sleeve 32 through the gearings 34, 35 and 31 through means of the gear 2. The sleeve 32 is journaled in the plate 3| and also in a plate 48 extending across the rear part of the housing H and a housing 4| isconnected with the rear end of the sleeve and is provided with the blades 42 with which cooperate the blades 43 carried by a member 44 which is rotatably arranged on the shaft 33 through means of a hub 45 to which a gear 45 is connected, said gearmeshing with the gears "41 on the stub shafts 48 carried by a member 49 keyed to the shaft 33. A small casing 50 is con-'- nected with the rear part of the casing 4| and encloses the gears 45 and 41 and the member 49 and said casing has a ring gear therein which meshes with the gears 41. The casing 4| contains fluid, such as oil, and thus the blades 42 and 43 provide a fluid drive between the sleeve 32 and the casing 4| and the driven shaft 33 and with the gearing in the casing-5ll.- A clutch plate 52 is keyed to the sleeve 32 and lining 53 is located between the plate 52 and the plate 3|. Spring means 54 move the clutch plate 52 in one direction and levers 55 move the plate in an opposite direction. These le'vers 55 are moved by a collar 56 slidably' arranged on the tubular part 51 extending forwardly from the plate 45 and a shift lever 58 actuates the collar as shown more particularly in Figure 3 through means of a fork 55. The member 58 is operated by a link 58 connected to the rod 5| of a piston 52 in a cylinder 53 which is suitably supported adjacent the motor. A conduit 54 connects the cylinder 53 with a cylinder 55 above a ported piston 66 in the cylinder 55, the port of the piston being shown at 51. A pump 58 pumps oil from the oil sump 59 through a pipe 1|! into the cylinder 65 but when the piston 55 is in the position shown in Figure 10 this oil will simply overflow and return to the sump. However, if the piston 66 is in a position where its port 5'! willconnect the pipe 18 with the conduit 54 then the oil will flow into the cylinder 53 so as to cause the parts 5| and BI! to apply the clutch 52 against the casing C.

A rod extends upwardly from the piston 55 and has a slot 12 in its upper end which slidingly receives a pin 13 in a lever 14 which is connected at one.end by a link 15 to a bellcrank 15 which is connected with the throttle operating means by a link 11. The other end of the rod 14 is connected as at 18 with a rod 19 which passes through a cylinder and is connected to a piston 8| in the cylinder. A pipe 82 connects the bottom of the cylinder 88 with the lubricant pump 83 of the motor. A spring 84 tends to hold the piston 8| in its lowered position and this piston controls a vertically arranged port 85 in the cylinder 80, the width of which can be adjusted by means of a sleeve 85 surrounding the cylinder release of pressure in the cylinder 53 to the cylinder 55 when the piston 55 lowers. A rod 93 controlsthe valve, this rod 93 being manually controlled ini-any suitable manner. 7

When the control lever connected to the member 5 is in forward position and the engine is idling, springs 22 will hold the weighted levers 28 in position to cause the vanes or blades I5 to feather into straight line position so that no motion is imparted to the fluid and the driven assembly remains idle. As the engine revolutions increase the weighted levers swing out and through means of the pinions l9, gear wheel l8 and the segmental-gears I! the vanes I! are moved from a neutral or straight position to an angular position, thereby setting up a flow of fluid through the driven blades II for imparting motion to the casing and, of course, this speed of driven assembly or casing C increases as the vanes l5 impart more motion to the fluid under increased motion of'the engine or shaft 8. With the arrangement shown when the engine shaft begins to impart motion to the casing C the planetary gearing, driven from the shaft 8 and its gearing 2 will cause the casing C to move in reverse due to the resistance offered by'the sleeve 32 and its attachment to the driven shaft 33 which has the load thereon. However. as the speed of the assembly increases and the load starts to move the casing C will for a while cease to move and then starts to move in the same direction as the shaft S and this continues until the casing and the parts connecting it with the the planetary gearing and the shaft 33 will be.

rotating at the same speed as the sleeve 32.

The angle of driving blades or vanes I is dependent on the speed of both the driving shaft S and the driven assembly including the casing C, due to the blades being mounted off-center. Thus with a slow speed in the driven unit and a higher speed in the driving unit increased resistance to the driving blades l5 will result and stop the outward movement of the weighted levers until the speed of the driven unit increases; The centrifugal strain will always lead and attempt to bring the speed of the driven unit up to the speed of the driving unit. The weighted levers and the parts associated therewith are designed to vary the leverage as the weights swing outwardly in a, manner resulting in setting up a balance at high speed to maintain a full speed position of the driving blades or vanes l5.

With the control means for the clutch member 52 and the parts associated therewith properly conditioned when the engine is started both oil pumps 88 and 83 will be operated. The oper ation of the pump 83 will cause the piston 8! to rise until the port 85 is uncovered to allow the oil toreturn to the engine sump. The level to whichthis piston rises depends on the engine speed and the amount of opening of the port 83 by sleeve 88. The oil from the pump 88 passes to cylinder 85 above piston 68. and overflows the cylinder tp the sump. Thus with the engine running aii'd valve}. opened, as the engine is speeded up to start the car through the fluid drive the piston 8| will rise which raises lever 14 at point 18 and piston 88 will also move upwardlyb However, since lever 18 is connected to the throttle the amount the piston 88 is raised is dependent on the amount of throttle opening in relation to engine speed since the level of the piston 3| is dependent on engine speed.

Now assume that .with a sufllcient throttle opening to propel the car twelve miles per hour on a level road in high gear, piston 8| would be floating at the lower end of port 85 and that the connecting link has been adjusted to bring piston 88 up to a point where the port 81 would connect ports or conduits 88 and 18 so that oil will flow to the cylinder 83 to cause the piston 82 to move to position to engage the clutch assembly associated withthe clutchplate 822.. From this position the car would continue to operate with the clutch engaged. However, if the throttle is opened more than an amount sufllcient to lower lever 18 to a point where .the connection 13 would use up all the clearance of the slot 1! piston 88 would then move down and vent the cylinder 88 and thus the clutch would disengage.

Since the level at which piston 8| rides depends on engine speed; the higher the engine speed the more the throttle will have to be opened to cause the clutch to disengage and above a predetermined speed the clutch could not be caused to disengage. If during acceleration the -.car was operating with the clutch disengaged and the throttle was closedenough to use up all the clearance in slot II-the piston 88 would move up to connect the ports or conduits 88 and l8 through the port 81 and this would cause the clutch to engage.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the car will operate with clutch engaged or disengaged at the will of the operator by a mere change of throttle opening within predetermined limits. I

When this control is used with dual unit fluid drive as shown in Figure 2, as the clutch is disengaged, the driving blades l5 will take the load ,and as the operator wished or unity speed was restored the clutch would again engage without jerk or jar to driving parts.

Figures ll, 12 and 13 show an arrangement in which a plurality of fluid drive means are used and in these views a large casing C is used which has a plurality of annular chambers 8' surrounding the same. Each of these annular chambers contains the spiral blade arrangement II" and the drive shaft S has a plurality of wheels W connected therewith, each of which carries the movable vanes or blades 15' actuated by centrifugal levers carried by the shaft 188 joumaled in the spokes of wheels W, said shaft carrying the gears lfll for meshing with the ring gears l8| which, in turn, mesh with the segmental gears connected with the vanes I5.

'- Planetary gearings lll2- connect the rear end of any number of stages to meet various conditions.

the drive shaft S with the driven shaft Hi3. The

operation of thisarrangement is similar to that before described excepting that the units are multiplied.

By using the planetary gears when starting from rest the driven blades rotate in reverse. This coupling has the ability to transmit more power at no revolution of the driven shaft than is possible when the driven blades are attached to the driven shaft and torque transmission is merely the result ofslapping the fluid against the driven blades. By the use of a clutch which operates semi-automatically all slippage is prevented and by using a second fluid unit with gears the torque may be increased at the start the same as if reduction gears were employed, and by using the multiple stage construction the work to be done by each stage is reduced, thereby decreasing heat losses and increasing the efliciency of the apparatus.

A spring connects the arm of'the rod 58. with an exterior partof the housing, as shown in Figure 1, this spring acting to hold the clutch in inoperative position until the piston 82 and cylinder 83 are actuated to move the clutch part to operating position.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Also I riphery open, a spiral annular blade extending around the chamber having notches in those parts at the opening, a rotary member surrounded by the chamber, vanes carried by the rotary member and passing through the space formed by the notches as the member rotates and means for adjusting the vanes as to their angular relation to the blade.

2. In a fiuid coupling, a rotary casing having an annular fluid chamber having its inner periphery open, a spiral annular blade extending around the chamber having notches in those parts at the opening, a rotary member surrounded by the chamber, vanes passing through the spaces formed by the notches, eccentric pivots for connecting the vanes to the rotary member and means for adjusting the vanes on their pivots. v

, 3. In a fluid drive, a power shaft, a fluid containing casing rotatable about said shaft and including an annular circumferential chamber open at its inner circumferential portion, a spiral blade extending around said chamber and having notches in the convolutions thereof facing the open portion of the chamber, said blade forming a runner, a spider fast on said shaft within said casing and including radial arms, driving vanes at the outer ends of said arms adapted to be revolved in said notches by said spider under rotation of said shaft and mounted on said arms for rotation thereon about the axes of said arms to variably pitch the same, and means to rotate said vanes comprising gearing carried by said spider and rotatable therewith.

4. In a fluid drive, a power shaft, a fluid containing casing rotatable about said shaft and including an annular circumferential chamber open at its inner circumferential portion, a spiral blade extending around said chamber and having notches in the convolutions thereof facing the open portion of the chamber, said blade forming a runner, a spider fast on said shaft within said casing and including radial arms, driving vanes at the outer ends of said arms adapted to be. revolvedin said notches by said spider under rotation of said shaft and mounted on said arms for rotation thereon about the axes of said arms to variably pitch the same, and means to rotate said vanes comprising gearing canied by said spider and rotatable therewith, said gearing comprising gear sectors operatively connected to said vanes, an annular gear for driving said sectors relative to said spider, and devices tending under rotation of said spider to rotate said gear.

5. In a fluid drive, a power shaft, a fluid con-. taining casing rotatable about said shaft and including an annular circumferential chamber open at its inner circumferential portion, a spiral blade extending around said chamber and having notches in the convolutions thereof facing the open portion of the chamber, said blade forming a runner, a spider fast on said shaft within said casing and including radial arms, driving vanes at the outer ends of said arms adapted to be revolved in said notches by said spider under rotation of said shaft and mounted on said arms for rotation thereon about the axes of said arms to variably pitch the same, and means to rotate said vanes comprising gearing carried by said spider and rotatable therewith, said gearing comprising gear sectors operatively connected to said vanes, an annular gear for driving said sectors relative to said spider, and devices tending under rotation of said spider to rotate said gear, said devices comprising a gear pinion meshed with said ring gear and centrifugal throw means to operate said pinion.

6. In a fluid drive, a power shaft, a fluid containing casing rotatable about said shaft and including an annular circumferential chamber open at its inner circumferential portion, a spiral blade extending around said chamber and having notches in the convolutions thereof facing the open portion of the chamber, said blade forming a runner, a spider fast on said shaft within said .casing and including radial arms, driving vanes at the outer ends of said arms adapted to be revolved in said notches by said spider under rotation of said shaft and mounted on said arms for rotation thereon about the axes of said arms to variably pitch the same, and means-to rotate said vanes comprising gearing carried by said spider and rotatable therewith, said gearing comprising 'ge'ar sectors operativelyi-connected to said vanes, 'an annular gear for driving said sectors relative to said spider, amide-- vices tending imder, rotation of said spider to rotate said gear, said devices comprising a gear pinion meshed with said ring gear and centrifugal throwmeans to operate said pinion, and manual means to operate said centrifugal throw means independently.

MAURICE F. POWELL. 

